Ten-year planning is about to get underway for Otago Regional Council (ORC) and we want to hear from the community about what kind of region to plan for.

Although ORC is only just putting the finishing touches to its annual plan for 2020-21, Senior Strategy Analyst Sylvie Leduc said it’s not too soon to start long-term planning.

“We’re asking people what they want Otago to be like because having that information before we start our planning gives us a much better chance of focussing on the right things,” she said.

“ORC is the region’s lead organisation for environmental management and we need to work together with the people who live and work here because we all want what’s best for our environment and our people.

“The draft statements we are consulting on were developed from community input into our Regional Policy Statement earlier this year, and then workshopped with councillors and the Strategy and Policy Committee’s Kai Tahu representatives. Now we want feedback – have we got it right and is there anything we missed?”

The ten-year plan (also known as the Long-term Plan) sets out what the regional council will do, its projects, performance targets and financial estimates. The plan is reviewed every three years, with the next one covering ten years from July 2021 to June 2031.

Ms Leduc said ORC has come a long way since the last ten-year plan was written and is keen to get started on the next one.

“We’ve got a lot of work to do and we want the community’s tick of approval that we’re heading in the right direction,” she said.

Pre-consultation at this stage is not a requirement, but it helps ORC planners to focus on the right outcomes from the outset. Formal consultation on the draft Long-term Plan will occur in the first half of 2021.

To let us know what you want Otago to be like in ten years, visit https://yoursay.orc.govt.nz/visionforotago